Mitya Writes
@watchingthesky.bsky.social
I write about perfume, chronic pain, & memory. Perfume columnist for The Attic on Eighth. Words in Catapult. Has a novel (published) and a chapbook (published) and 678 notes app poems (nope never).
https://justwatchingthesky.substack.com/
https://justwatchingthesky.substack.com/
Reposted by Mitya Writes
I really dislike the presentation of AI as inevitable, that UK cannot stand up against it – as if AI is a force of nature outside our control. That narrative then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I reject that version of reality wholly and completely. It's up to us. We decide.
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
www.theverge.com
May 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I really dislike the presentation of AI as inevitable, that UK cannot stand up against it – as if AI is a force of nature outside our control. That narrative then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I reject that version of reality wholly and completely. It's up to us. We decide.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
"I'm realizing I'm being vague here. That's intentional." (via @literaryhub.bsky.social)
None of Your Business: Why Writers Shouldn’t Feel Obligated to Share Too Much
If I tell you secrets about my personal life, will you look at my new book? My first book, a novel called After World, was a relatively comfortable book for me to market in many ways. It takes plac…
buff.ly
May 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"I'm realizing I'm being vague here. That's intentional." (via @literaryhub.bsky.social)
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Keep indie publishing thriving: Each £3 directory listing helps raise money (33% donated) for the #BrokenSpineAward Fundraiser—our £5000 poetry prize goal for 2026.
thebrokenspine.co.uk...
thebrokenspine.co.uk...
Join Our Independent Press Directory - The Broken Spine
At The Broken Spine, collaboration and community have always been at the heart of what we do. We believe in uplifting fellow independent presses, writers, and
thebrokenspine.co.uk
May 27, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Keep indie publishing thriving: Each £3 directory listing helps raise money (33% donated) for the #BrokenSpineAward Fundraiser—our £5000 poetry prize goal for 2026.
thebrokenspine.co.uk...
thebrokenspine.co.uk...
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Writers: before you sign a contract with a publisher, make sure AI isn't replacing your illustrator, your translator, your editor, your jacket designer. Readers: if you're thinking of buying a book, do the same. Refuse. Resist. If AI garbage doesn't sell, people will stop making it.
May 11, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Writers: before you sign a contract with a publisher, make sure AI isn't replacing your illustrator, your translator, your editor, your jacket designer. Readers: if you're thinking of buying a book, do the same. Refuse. Resist. If AI garbage doesn't sell, people will stop making it.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Reposted by Mitya Writes
What everyone seems to be letting the Trump propaganda machine get away with is that it DOES. NOT. MATTER if he was a nice guy or not. The point is he was legally allowed to be here, was grabbed by mistake and deported sans due process as part of a vast illegal rendition scheme. That’s what matters.
Leavitt describes Abrego Garcia as "hiding in Maryland" and says, "based on the sensationalism of many of the people in this room, you would think we deported a candidate for father of the year"
April 15, 2025 at 8:29 PM
What everyone seems to be letting the Trump propaganda machine get away with is that it DOES. NOT. MATTER if he was a nice guy or not. The point is he was legally allowed to be here, was grabbed by mistake and deported sans due process as part of a vast illegal rendition scheme. That’s what matters.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
One of hundreds of people abducted by ICE and sold to slavery in El Salvador was a 19 year old with no criminal record in the US or Venezuela and no tattoos of any kind.
An ICE kidnapper who grabbed him outside his house said, "He's not the one."
The other said, "Take him anyway."
So they did.
An ICE kidnapper who grabbed him outside his house said, "He's not the one."
The other said, "Take him anyway."
So they did.
April 14, 2025 at 4:34 PM
One of hundreds of people abducted by ICE and sold to slavery in El Salvador was a 19 year old with no criminal record in the US or Venezuela and no tattoos of any kind.
An ICE kidnapper who grabbed him outside his house said, "He's not the one."
The other said, "Take him anyway."
So they did.
An ICE kidnapper who grabbed him outside his house said, "He's not the one."
The other said, "Take him anyway."
So they did.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
The last living titan of the Latin American literary “boom” and one of the most influential writers of the Spanish-speaking world died on Sunday.
lithub.com/mario-vargas...
lithub.com/mario-vargas...
Mario Vargas Llosa has died at 89.
The Nobel Prize-winning Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, the last living titan of the Latin American literary “boom,” and one of the most influential writers of the Spanish-speakin…
lithub.com
April 14, 2025 at 4:36 PM
The last living titan of the Latin American literary “boom” and one of the most influential writers of the Spanish-speaking world died on Sunday.
lithub.com/mario-vargas...
lithub.com/mario-vargas...
Reposted by Mitya Writes
This is amazing. And makes me think of BLUEPRINT FOR REVOLUTION, which I highly recommend if you haven't read.
It looks like someone has hacked a crosswalk button in Palo Alto to deliver at least two different messages in the voice of Elon Musk.
(They are not complimentary)
(They are not complimentary)
April 13, 2025 at 1:34 PM
This is amazing. And makes me think of BLUEPRINT FOR REVOLUTION, which I highly recommend if you haven't read.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
The right for autistic people with intellectual disabilities (and other disabled people) to live outside of institutions was only granted by the US Supreme Court in 1999.
Perioidic reminder that the reason you didn't see autistic people with intellectual disabilities on the street five decades ago was not because they didn't exist. It's because they were sent away to institutions and their parents were told to put away pictures of them.
April 13, 2025 at 2:55 AM
The right for autistic people with intellectual disabilities (and other disabled people) to live outside of institutions was only granted by the US Supreme Court in 1999.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Building a free indie book promo network: 1 form = 30+ blogs/pods/newsletters ready to feature your work. No fees. No gatekeeping. Just access. Want in?
#LiftToTheSky #PoemsAbout #PoetsOfBlueSky
shorturl.at/v64QI
DM me if you're a blogger, podcaster, or press.
#indielit #bookbloggers #indiebooks
#LiftToTheSky #PoemsAbout #PoetsOfBlueSky
shorturl.at/v64QI
DM me if you're a blogger, podcaster, or press.
#indielit #bookbloggers #indiebooks
No More Cold Pitches: Building a Free Indie Publishing Network That Actually Works - The Broken Spine
The indie lit scene is full of passion. Full of people doing it for the love — writing, publishing, reviewing, shouting into the void just to keep the signal
shorturl.at
April 13, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Building a free indie book promo network: 1 form = 30+ blogs/pods/newsletters ready to feature your work. No fees. No gatekeeping. Just access. Want in?
#LiftToTheSky #PoemsAbout #PoetsOfBlueSky
shorturl.at/v64QI
DM me if you're a blogger, podcaster, or press.
#indielit #bookbloggers #indiebooks
#LiftToTheSky #PoemsAbout #PoetsOfBlueSky
shorturl.at/v64QI
DM me if you're a blogger, podcaster, or press.
#indielit #bookbloggers #indiebooks
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Book lovers: support your library, support democracy, get a free book, all at the same time 👇👇👇
Donate to your public library, get a free Libro.fm audiobook credit! 📚🥰❤️
This week is #NationalLibraryWeek and just like our beloved indie bookshops, libraries play an essential role in our communities.
But, more than ever, they need our support.
Learn more: blog.libro.fm/libraryweek/
This week is #NationalLibraryWeek and just like our beloved indie bookshops, libraries play an essential role in our communities.
But, more than ever, they need our support.
Learn more: blog.libro.fm/libraryweek/
April 10, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Book lovers: support your library, support democracy, get a free book, all at the same time 👇👇👇
Reposted by Mitya Writes
"i no longer care how
much my body must be taxed before i can
be free. the bill is past due."
Sin à Tes Souhaits performs "10 Toes Down" in the final online release of our series of poem films from "Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration," made with @haymarketbooks.org.
much my body must be taxed before i can
be free. the bill is past due."
Sin à Tes Souhaits performs "10 Toes Down" in the final online release of our series of poem films from "Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration," made with @haymarketbooks.org.
April 10, 2025 at 2:46 PM
"i no longer care how
much my body must be taxed before i can
be free. the bill is past due."
Sin à Tes Souhaits performs "10 Toes Down" in the final online release of our series of poem films from "Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration," made with @haymarketbooks.org.
much my body must be taxed before i can
be free. the bill is past due."
Sin à Tes Souhaits performs "10 Toes Down" in the final online release of our series of poem films from "Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration," made with @haymarketbooks.org.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke:
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.
April 2, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke:
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Every weekday this entire month, you can call the FSG Poetry Hotline and hear an FSG author read a poem, right into your personal ear.
Celebrate National Poetry Month with FSG’s Dial-A-Poem.
The American Academy of Poets launched National Poetry Month in 1996. Since then, April has been synonymous in some circles with verse. Even before that, the dawn of spring has felt poetic. Eliot c…
lithub.com
April 2, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Every weekday this entire month, you can call the FSG Poetry Hotline and hear an FSG author read a poem, right into your personal ear.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Gang members should not be disappeared to an unaccountable torture prison either.
April 1, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Gang members should not be disappeared to an unaccountable torture prison either.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Once thing we can say for certain is that Donald Trump has been convicted of more crimes than some of the people he is deporting to a black hole in el salvador with no due process or recourse www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Trump’s Salvadoran Gulag
To be deported, one does not need to be a drug dealer or a terrorist; apparently, having tattoos and being Venezuelan is enough.
www.theatlantic.com
April 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Once thing we can say for certain is that Donald Trump has been convicted of more crimes than some of the people he is deporting to a black hole in el salvador with no due process or recourse www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
My author personal branding strategy is to spend approx. ten (10) minutes a week on SAfrican author Insta before I have too much of an urge to dry heave, and then submit one (1) poem every six months before throwing up. I think it's both reasonable and ambitious.
April 2, 2025 at 5:22 PM
My author personal branding strategy is to spend approx. ten (10) minutes a week on SAfrican author Insta before I have too much of an urge to dry heave, and then submit one (1) poem every six months before throwing up. I think it's both reasonable and ambitious.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
I’m with you on this. I finished treatment for lymphoma 15mo ago, and my hubby’s just started treatment for bladder cancer. So, all I can say is if you see swollen lymph nodes, or if you see blood in your pee, see your GP.
March 25, 2025 at 12:58 PM
I’m with you on this. I finished treatment for lymphoma 15mo ago, and my hubby’s just started treatment for bladder cancer. So, all I can say is if you see swollen lymph nodes, or if you see blood in your pee, see your GP.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
🖋️ Writers, you have until April 30 to submit your winter-themed short fiction. Don’t wait—send us your best work today! Guidelines: shorturl.at/e3Qwr
#SootAndBoots #Festive #ShortFiction #SubmissionWindow
#SootAndBoots #Festive #ShortFiction #SubmissionWindow
March 22, 2025 at 7:00 AM
🖋️ Writers, you have until April 30 to submit your winter-themed short fiction. Don’t wait—send us your best work today! Guidelines: shorturl.at/e3Qwr
#SootAndBoots #Festive #ShortFiction #SubmissionWindow
#SootAndBoots #Festive #ShortFiction #SubmissionWindow
Reposted by Mitya Writes
ATTN Publishers of hybrid forms! This summer SmokeLong will feature publishers who blur the borders between flash, essay, poetry, memoir, and longer narrative forms. We'd love to work with you. If you have a few minutes, please fill in our Google form. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Publishers of Hybrid Forms
This Google form is for publishers of narrative poetry, novels or novellas in flash, and other literary works that don't easily fit conventional categories. These works will have a flash element (work...
docs.google.com
March 19, 2025 at 6:07 PM
ATTN Publishers of hybrid forms! This summer SmokeLong will feature publishers who blur the borders between flash, essay, poetry, memoir, and longer narrative forms. We'd love to work with you. If you have a few minutes, please fill in our Google form. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Mitya Writes
When I wrote my camps book, people sometimes had difficulty understanding how concentration-camp regimes were proud of what they were doing and wanted attention for it, even as they also hoped to keep many aspects secret and terrorize vulnerable classes. Anyway, this is what that looks like.
Leavitt: "We are encouraging illegal immigrants to actively self-deport to maybe save themselves from being in one of these fun videos."
March 17, 2025 at 6:01 PM
When I wrote my camps book, people sometimes had difficulty understanding how concentration-camp regimes were proud of what they were doing and wanted attention for it, even as they also hoped to keep many aspects secret and terrorize vulnerable classes. Anyway, this is what that looks like.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
This drives me more insane than any other policy failure. This is forcing babies to die of cured illnesses because pre-Enlightenment thinking is now in vogue.
In 3 days, the number of measles cases in a highly unvaccinated area of Texas has doubled. There are now 48 cases, all of whom are unvaccinated, and 13 of whom have been hospitalized so far, for a hospitalization rate of 27%. This is huge figure in epidemiology. This outbreak will keep spreading.
February 15, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This drives me more insane than any other policy failure. This is forcing babies to die of cured illnesses because pre-Enlightenment thinking is now in vogue.
Reposted by Mitya Writes
Want to read Palestinian books? A new service will deliver them to your door.
A new subscription service will deliver books on Palestine to your door.
The Palestine Festival of Literature has launched a curated subscription service, the PalFest Bookshelf, which will deliver the best new books on Palestine, along with bespoke extras, straight to y…
lithub.com
February 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Want to read Palestinian books? A new service will deliver them to your door.